The typical response by the Opposition and most commentators to all these reviews and inquiries has been cynicism, even ridicule. In a memorable 2008 line, Tony Abbott observed that Rudd had "hit the ground reviewing". Whatever their internal differences, all three opposition leaders lining up against Kevin Rudd found the "all talk, no action" attack to their liking.

And it worked. One of the reasons that Rudd's decision to delay the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme proved so devastating was precisely that it played to the Opposition's attacks. After all the political capital Kevin Rudd, Penny Wong and indeed the Labor government had invested in the Garnaut Review, the Green Paper, the White Paper and the final CPRS legislation, the decision to drop it was breathtaking.

If Rudd didn't even stand for action on climate change any more, many of us asked, what did he stand for?

Process. Rudd's bureaucratic background showed his keen understanding of the sausage factory of government policy making. The former prime minister was committed to the process of commissioning policy reviews and inquiries, and then shepherding them through the bureaucracy.

And the funny thing is, Kevin Rudd was really quite good at it, despite all the stories of terrified bureaucrats and neglected backbenchers that have emerged in the months since he was rolled. And a key part of Rudd's policy influence was of course the myriad reviews he commissioned.

These will continue to set the agenda for Australian public policy well into the next decade. Far from sitting on the shelf gathering dust, many of the recommendations of the Rudd government's reviews will eventually end up making their way into policy and legislation.

Take the Bradley Review. The cynicism in the higher education sector about this document was stark, given the parade of reviews Australian universities have been subjected to over the past decade and a half. And yet, the Bradley Review's central recommendation of raising the proportion of the Australian population who hold higher degrees has worked its way into policy - and looks set to stay there. Uner Julia Gillard's tenure as education minister, significant amounts of new money have been found for the sector, and the Bradley Review's recommendation that the government introduce an uncapped, demand-driven system for the funding of university undergraduate places has been implemented. Universities will always have their hands out for more money. But the Bradley Review will shape higher education policy into the next decade.

So will the Defence White Paper. This long and detailed document sets the strategic priorities for Australia out to 2030 - as well as the multi-billion-dollar hardware acquisitions that go with them. With bipartisan support likely for the defence budget, big-ticket spending commitments recommended by the White Paper, like the next block of Joint Strike Fighters or a new fleet of submarines, are likely to eventually translate into gunmetal and steel.

The Productivity Commission's report into paid parental leave is another example of a Rudd government inquiry that looks likely to have lasting policy impact. Labor's policy adopts its recommendations just about completely. Tony Abbott's scheme differs slightly: it's more generous and less means-tested. Given the numbers on the floor of Parliament, Australia's eventual system of paid parental leave may end up somewhere between the two major party's proposals - a situation which would underline the near-consensus established in the community in favour of parental leave, a consensus laid out in detail in the Productivity Commission's report.

The Garnaut Review is another example of a Rudd inquiry that will have lasting influence on the Australian policy debate. Whatever you think of the scientific facts of global warming, Ross Garnaut's tome is the most comprehensive single document on the climate change debate in Australia. In many ways, it was the first truly systematic examination conducted in this country of the political and economic implications of a warming world, and the monograph will continue to be read by scientists, policymakers, academics and concerned citizens for years to come. If Australia ever does introduce a viable cap on emissions and a system of trading pollution permits, that system will almost certainly draw heavily on Garnaut's report.

And then there's Ken Henry's long and fascinating review of Australia's future tax system. This document lays out the current state of Australia's fiscal architecture and makes a series of often-controversial recommendations on how to improve it. Some of these - like vastly increased land taxes and other imposts on the family home - seem destined never to be implemented, no matter how economically sensible they appear. Others, like some form of resource rent tax for the mining industry, may well pass into law with the help of the Greens and independents. But even if the minority Gillard Government collapses next month, the Henry Tax Review looks likely to remain influential. The Coalition has already signalled that it supports certain aspects of the Review, like the push to lower company tax rates and simplify the tax base in general. Ken Henry will probably not be Treasury Secretary in any Liberal-led government, but many of his recommendations will resurface under Joe Hockey as treasurer. Either way, his policy influence looks set to live on.

For those who doubt the value of a really comprehensive government inquiry, one historical examples in particular should help set the scene. The Henderson Review into poverty in Australia was a ground-breaking investigation initiated during Gough Whitlam's government. Ronald Henderson uncovered shocking pockets of genuine deprivation in this country. But of more importance even that his findings were some of the new approaches he took to measuring poverty. That's because Henderson created a new way to measure poverty, which, while controversial, has become the standard way to measure poverty and financial hardship in this country: the Henderson Poverty Line. As a result, Henderson's report affects the way we think about poverty in this country to this day.

The same may one day be said for a number of the Rudd-Gillard government's policy inquiries. While it's rare for all the recommendations of any one report to be implemented, for better or worse many policy pathways laid out in reports and reviews such as these find their way over time into the law of the land.

Remember that the next time someone tells you Kevin Rudd was all talk and no action. Sometimes the "action" takes many years to follow through; and sometimes the "talk" is the important thing in itself.

Free trade is the oldest argument in federal politics and the issue that literally defined the federation era but opposition exists to the TPP, courtesy of the Investor-State Dispute Resolutions clause.